This Ol' Thing
by SamanthaMae
Summary: Ponyboy and Sodapop spend the day together looking at some old pictures.


A/N: I came up with this when I was looking through pictures of my sister and I. it really made me think; I miss the times from before she started dating and got more friends. I don't know how, but it kind of made me think of Ponyboy and Sodapop. Oh, and I don't own The Outsiders!

_**This Ol' Thing**_

I was thankful when Sodapop told me he was staying home for the day. He normally worked on Sundays, same as Darry, then his shifts got mixed up for the week. He had Thursday off, too, but I had school then.

Hell, I was even more thankful when Steve had to work, and I wouldn't mind of Two-Bit came over. It's gonna be a good day, I thought, smiling at the thought of actually spending a whole day with Sodapop. It turned out that Two-Bit couldn't come; I guess he was hungover or something.

"What ya wanna do, Pony?"

I shrugged. I was so excited for that day, I didn't even _think_ about what to do.

"Go to a movie?" I suggested.

Soda made a face. "Nah, you know I can't stand those. Um…"

I thought about reading him a book, but he couldn't sit still to get into one of those. Hence we didn't go to the movies. So, I thought, I guess we can't paint pictures together either. Sunset wasn't even gonna come out for a long while. I stared up at him.

"Sometimes I wonder why we're brothers," he said, grinning.

I smiled back.

"We could go somewhere and try to pick up some broads…" he raised his eyebrows and gave me a glance. It was once of his convincing looks. "Come on, Ponyboy. We'd be real good at it."

I thought about it for a moment. Was there anything else to do? I wondered. Is there anything else than picking up greasy girls at a restaurant and get a seven-digit number that I would never look at again that we could do?

I sighed, jumping up from bed. "We could go to church, ya know." I pointed out, making him burst out in laughter. He cocked an eyeborw, pulling a Two-Bit move, then muttered, "Shoot, kid. What do _you_ do for kicks around here?"

I don't know why, but he reminded me an awful lot like Dally. Then again, everything reminded me of rather Dally Winston or Johnny Cade.

"We'll go get those broads," I groaned, heading to the bathroom.

I examined myself in the mirror. Sometimes I wished I never let Johnny convince me to cut and bleach my hair six months ago. Luckily, though, my hair was brown-red again. I knew it would take another year to grow out again. I heaved another sigh. Until then, Soda would win the Best-Hair-In-The-North-Side award. I'll beat him someday.

We greased our hair and threw on some clothes. I could tell Sodapop was real excited. He kept smiling, probably because me and him have never bonded like this. We both were too excited to even notice it was eleven in the morning on a Sunday.

The roads were awful empty while we walked around. No cars drove by, no one screamed "Hey, greasers!" at us…nothing. It was dead outside.

"C'mon," Soda said softly. "Let's go in here."

Following him, I pulled up the sleeves of my light-blue sweater. I sure hoped I looked good enough for some girls. Sodapop led me to a table beside two girls. They looked sixteen, at the most. Soda smiled slightly at them, then sat down. I sat across from him, shier than I thought I would be.

I sure as hell didn't have Soda's smile. I couldn't attract them like he could. That made me worried.

I thought we forgot to bring money for a minute when Soda reached in his pocket and picked out five dollars. I stopped holding my breath, over relieved. It sure would have made us look tuff if we ordered food then panicked for not having any cash. Those two girls were watching us a lot.

The only thing I really wanted was a Pepsi, but Soda made me get a full meal. I wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because it's been a few days since I last ate. It was just one of those weeks when I just wasn't hungry.

"Don't I know you?" the brunette asked Soda after we ordered.

He flashed her a smile. "I don't know, do I?"

"Ain't you the one who works at the DX?" the blond one, who wore so much make up it drove me crazy, questioned. She sure would have been fly if her eyes weren't so traced with a black lining. The brunette was better looking.

Soda laughed in pride. I began to feel weird. I don't know what it is about me, but I can sure get jealous easily. I love Soda, but that moment I started thinking they were just interested in him.

I thought there was nothing better to do than to keep my mouth shut.

--------------------------

Soda messed up my hair while walking home. "You were awful quiet," he told me, sounding concerned.

I shrugged. "I'm tired."

I looked at the clock and saw it was only noon. We had been gone for an hour. I swear, that hour seemed like five. I thought we oughta not try that again.

Throwing off his shoes, Sodapop flopped onto the couch. He faced me with a big smile, the same smile he always wore. The thing I loved most about him was his happy-go-lucky personality. He was happy ninety-five percent of his life. I wondered what it would be like if I was as happy as he was.

"How come your shoes are so dirty?" I asked him, staring at the black stains.

"Steve threw some oil on me yesterday. Put 'em in the closet, will ya?"

I opened the door, but right before I was about to throw them on the shelf, I saw a big book I never saw before. Curious, I took it out. "Hey Soda," I called. "What's this?"

"Huh?" he cried back, showing he was too lazy to stand up.

I dropped it on the coffee table. He picked it up. "Ain't never seen it before," I told him.

His smile grew. "It's a photo book. I made it right after Mom and Dad died. You know, to get over it. I started workin' on it once Johnny and Dally passed away, too. I guess I forgot about it and left it out here one day. Dar mighta tossed it in there."

He flipped over the book cover, revealing the first picture. Dad, Darry, him, and me were in a boat, fishing in a lake. I didn't remember it at all, but that was me all right.

"Look how little we were," Soda pointed out. "Ya couldn't have been anymore than seven, Pony."

I smiled, turning the page. It was Soda and Steve, standing in front of the DX gas station. They were fifteen, I think. It was when they first started working there.

"That's my favourite picture of Steve," he announced.

The next page made me wince. Johnny and I were smoking with Dally in between us. I think Dally was the only one who knew a picture was being taken, because neither Johnny or I were looking at the camera. It was a year ago.

"I remember takin' that one." Soda laughed. "Johnny's ears turned real red when he realized I took it."

The next one was more recent. Soda and Two-Bit were laughing about something, and Dally was in the background lighting a cancer stick.

"Two-Bit was making fun of Dal," he explained. "Forget what he said, but it sure was funny."

The fifth photo got to me big time. It was of me and him in the hospital, and my face was black with ashes. I remembered it in an instant; Soda took it when he was pretending to be a reporter there. It was right after the fire at the church on Jay Mountain.

Soda chuckled softly. "Golly, that was a good night."

The next one was an old one. Mom was sitting in a rocking chair, rocking Soda softly. He look no older than one-going-on-two.

Soda flipped the page quickly, revealing a picture of him pushing Sandy on a swing. They looked as happy as ever.

"Evie took that one. She always said Sandy and me made a great couple."

I'm not sure, but I think I saw his eyes water up. Without a moment's hesitation he turned the page.

Steve was doing a summersault in the air. I don't know how, maybe Darry taught him more flipping tricks than he had taught the rest of us. I suddenly remembered that night in a flash. It was the night we found Johnny after four Socs beat him good. Soda took that right before Steve found Johnny's jacket.

I shuddered.

Soda seemed to notice, so he flipped the page. It was another picture of me and Sodapop, and Dally had his hand on Johnny's shoulder in the background. It looked like he was trying to comfort him or something.

The next one got to me. It was my sitting on the back steps, smoking a cigarette, and watching the sunset. My back was faced to the camera. I didn't know for sure, but I think it was taken not long after the night of the rumble. My hair was blond in it.

"I took that one while you weren't lookin'." Soda smiled. "Sorry about that."

I shrugged, turning the page. This one was taken when I first turned thirteen. It was in our driveway.

I had my hand covering the sunlight from getting into my eyes, Two-Bit was sharpening his blade, Steve was fooling around with Soda, and Darry was doing no-handed cartwheels.

"Johnny took that one. He gave it to me once he got it."

I looked up at Soda. He was still wearing a smile. I grinned, too, and sat closer to him. He stuck an arm over my shoulder.

"This's my favourite."

I laughed out loud at seeing the back of Dally and the back of a police officer, who was escorting Dally to the backseat of a police car. It was taken right before he was going to the cooler when he was seventeen. I remembered being with Soda when he took it.

"Shoot," Sodapop muttered. "I wish I took a picture before the rumble. Boy, were we ever pumped up then."

"Tell me 'bout it." I replied softly.

He examined me slowly. "Something wrong, Pony?"

Was something wrong? Hmm…not really. I didn't think I seemed that down or anything. I thought I felt fine, even though some of those pictures got me deep. Especially the one of me watching the sunset.

"Here's a good one,"

It was a newspaper clipping, the one that was taken at the hospital from the fire. It was on the cover of the article about Johnny and Dally and me for being "heroes", the one of Soda, Darry, and me.

"Hey -" Soda paused. "I guess that's all I had. Funny. I thought I had a lot more."

I kept my eyes on the photo book, taking another look at the picture of Johnny, Dally, and me. "Hey, Sodapop?"

"What?"

"Do you…do you mind if I keep this picture?"

He smiled and messed up my hair. "Not at all. Want me to find a picture frame for it or somethin'?"

"Nah," I took a good look at it. "I'll get Two-Bit to sweep one for me tomorrow."

"But really, Pony," he eyed me carefully. "What's the matter?"

I couldn't help but smile when my eyes landed on him. He seemed so concerned, but there was only one reason I was upset. When I thought about it while looking at him, I wanted to laugh. He seemed so worried.

"Huh?" he nudged me, waiting for an answer.

I threw the photo book on the coffee table. "I sure as hell want my long hair back."


End file.
